Other MSTS Plugins

the wheel sets can already be done by running my wheelz plugin several times and entering the different parameters, then just make the bogies child groups of the main wheel group
e.g. a 4-6-2 arrangement now takes me about 2 minutes to build.

You don’t need to have the solid spoke effect by specifying 0 for the number of spokes, but you will need a circular transparency for the wheel face.

I’ve still yet to build or see a chain coupling model I’m happy with (I’ve only ever build andquot;oldandquot; models) it would be feasable but probably better to use the object library

Paul

I’ve started to get quite a few ideas for MSTS plugins now, some of which are almost working.

– andnbsp;Track piece generator for different gauges etc (about 60% done)

– valve gear animator, ultra smooth valve gear/ rod animation, hopefully with some more complex valve types (80% done)

– hand rail generator – select a series of edges and generate a handrail to match the shape (about 10%)

does anyone have any ideas for others to do ?

I could easily add to the wheelz one by entering various parameters and generating solebars/boilers etc

I’ve got a few ideas for others I would like, but haven’t got the time to get around to do – so if anyone else is interested…

1) shift an object so it is centered on a selection – the current tool to centre selection distorts the shape if you select just one face – I need to shift the whole object so the group centre is in the selection. (simple?)

2) a better UV mapper that allows wrapping values of ]1
(the adjust tool just doesn’t hack it) – not so simple

Paul

Whoa! Paul, nice ideas! The track generator sounds particularly interesting. andnbsp; andnbsp;Here’s some more that I’ve found time consuming and tedious but need to be done for your model to work in MSTS:

– Coupler creation (U.S. and U.K. types) – correct height and size for both ends of locos and wagons.
– Different size wheel sets (28andquot; diameter, 33andquot; diameter, etc.) and bogies (2 or 3 pairs (or more) of wheel sets per bogie) for different wagons.

Let me know if you need more info. Thanks for your time and hard work!

– Andrew